Is your school ready for the future? Part 11/12

Education Readiness Review

 A readiness assessment is required to determine what is needed to create facilities that meet the perceived needs of future educational challenges.  Dr. Darren Cannell will be providing twelve review criteria that can and should be used to reviewing your facilities.  This exercise will  make sure your facilities will be ready for the future educational challenges as predicted by the latest educational research and teaching.

The concern of such an educational review is that it will support future challenges but will not dictate the direction of the educational changes.  The design and approach need to be such that it supports current practices but is versatile enough to accommodate the possible future changes and trends.  To effectively assess the readiness it becomes necessary to review the perceived future trends in educational technology and educational pedagogy and theory.   This review of the trends will have direct ramifications on the facilities and will require certain designs to accommodate these trends.

Dr. Darren Cannell is a consultant who does building assessments and staff training.  He can be contacted at 

dcannell5@gmail.com

The eleventh of the 12 trends is as follows:

Community Access

The school should be the center of the community.  When constructed correctly a facility connected to the world should welcome all members of the community to utilize what it has to offer.  Lifelong learning is a goal for all members of the community and locking the doors of an educational facilities does not promote this concept.  Security is a concern and is normally the reason used by nay-sayers who find it is easier to lock facilities down.  The worthwhile effort to utilize a facility fully will greatly enhance the value of a school.  A school that is a safe learning environment for all in the community can be a tremendous asset.